Update 2018

Well it’s been awhile since I last posted here. I set this goal last year to have a 5 min conversation and I would like to give you an update on this and other things. First I would like to explain why I have been away for so long.

The first thing was that I was away in Morocco. My idea was that I would be able to blog steadily there but the area I was in had really poor internet and I was not able to upload any content.  I thought of writing posts on my local laptop and then uploading them after but the reality was that I was really busy.

As you can see from the picture, I got married. To those of you who don’t know, the process of getting married in Morocco is a very timely and consuming process. You are literally going to different buildings trying to get documents stamped and signed just to return to previous buildings to re-stamp and sign the same documents. I think I will write an article about this entire procedure one day. Having said that everything was eventually done, I was married, I had a wedding celebration and I happy with my wife. Then I got sick.

This was strange for me, as I have not been this sick since 2012. I think that several reasons were culprit for my condition. Being in Morocco, especially in January is a real experience. I am Canadian. I am use to cold weather. I have been outside waiting for a train when the weather is -25 (celcius). Looking at the weather, I saw that the average days in Morocco are around 16 as a high and the low going down to 5. I thought this is no problem for me. The problem is that the -25 I experienced was only outside where I wore appropriate attire. Inside buildings, homes, stores etc… the temperature was 21. In morocco if the temperature is 5 outside, inside the home is 5. There were many nights where it I found myself having to use more than one blanket as it was so cold in the room. Another thing is that Moroccan homes are built to keep the cold inside. I suppose this is for the summer months where the temperature can reach the high 40s. Being that the weather in the night is 5 the inside of the home is this cold even in the morning to early afternoon. Being this cold a lot of Moroccans do not take showers and instead use the hammam (sort of a steam spa) weekly. Being from Canada I am use to showers daily (sometimes more than once a day) so I took showers. Taking a shower and then staying in a home that is very cold is not a good idea. I think this brought down my immune system. Another issue is the cats. In Morocco cats are everywhere. Some of you may be thinking about the cute pets that people have. I am speaking about stray cats. Stray cats are everywhere. The home that I was staying in had at least 4 stray cats. The problem with cats is that my allergies flare up with cats. On those very cold nights even with two blankets, I couldn’t sleep because my allergies had me itchy and congested all night. This would eventually break me. The other thing was that I had misplace my medication so while I was looking for my allergy pills which would help to at least sleep through the night, I could not find it and just assumed I left them behind. Eventually my body broke down and I was sick. Eventually I found my medication but at this point, it was too late. I was very sick. In Morocco you can’t just go to a supermarket and pick up medication. You have to go to a pharmacist. There you explain your symptoms and they determine the best medicine for you. Needless to say the medicine did not help much so I was sick for a long time. I eventually got better but then I still had the cough. My mom told me that a flu was going around making everyone sick. I still think I could of overcome the flu if these factors were not against me.  

With the marriage and sickness, I was really not in the mood or right state of mind to blog. Like I mentioned I eventually got better but I had this cough linger with me even after I returned home. Finally I can say I am good now and with the process of marriage behind me, I can continue with my learning.

So was I able to have a 5 min conversation? Before I answer this question I want to say that I now realize the statement I made was really abstract. The 5 min conversation could be with a store owner, my wife or her family, a train conductor, or even someone on the street. Although I initially thought this is irrelevant, this is actually important. The types of people you speak with will determine the type of conversation you have. While this may sound like common knowledge, it’s a bit trickier than that. The different types of conversations you have will have different complexities. For example my wife has a 2 year old nephew who is starting to learn Darija. I can speak to him for hours because my level of speaking and listening is basic and so is his. On the other hand I cannot have a conversation with his father because his speaking is at such a fast and advanced place I cannot understand him. So to answer the question if I was able to have the 5 min conversation, the answer is yes or no. With some people I could speak but with others I could not. Going through the experience I had, the people I was able to communicate with were people who did not speak much to me and it was me doing most of the talking. What I found is that I could construct sentences and communicate what I wanted to some degree, I still had a difficult time to understand what was being said to me. I could understand 1 to 3 word sentences, but most people don’t speak like this.

I do intend to continue studying learning new words and phrases but I will start to incorporate listening exercises in my studying. I’m not sure how I will do this but I will figure it out. I will start to post again, this time instead of word lists, I will try to incorporate sentences with the words or sentences related to the subject of the post. If you have any suggestions please leave a comment below.